


Menagerie

by Eggling



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 00:26:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17151848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eggling/pseuds/Eggling
Summary: Not all the Doctor's waifs and strays are human, or even sentient.





	1. Jacob

**Author's Note:**

> for [ettelwenailinon](ettelwenailinon.tumblr.com).

Scowling, Jamie cast a dark glance up at the thunderously grey clouds strewn across the sky. “It’s going tae snow soon, Doctor,” he said grimly. “We’ll be stuck up here too if we don’t get off the mountain soon.”

“What about Alice?” Victoria argued. “We can’t leave her up here.”

“We dinnae even know where she is!” Jamie shot back. For all that she was the governor’s daughter, Alice had been missing for so long that the locals had all but abandoned her in the face of the approaching storm. He had been outraged by he neglect in the village, but now they were nearing the summit of the mountain, he found that he could not bring himself to condemn them so harshly. “For all we know, she was dead before we even left.”

“That doesn’t mean we should -” Victoria’s face was as stormy as the sky above them, and she squared her shoulders, looking alarmingly as if she intended to lash out at Jamie.

“Ah – Victoria...” The Doctor placed his arm in front of her chest hastily, stopping her from reaching Jamie. “I hardly think Jamie was suggesting that we leave Alice here.” Jamie nodded, and Victoria’s glare softened a little. “Just that we ought to exercise reasonable caution, and decide which is the right way onto the path. Quickly.”

As one, they turned to face the bulk of the snowdrift before them. “What if we get it wrong?” Victoria asked dubiously.

“We fall down a cliff an’ off the mountain?” Jamie suggested.

“Don’t frighten her, Jamie,” the Doctor said disapprovingly.

“Och, I was only jokin’.”

“All that will happen,” the Doctor continued patiently, “is that we waste our time digging.”

“Aye, an’ we dinnae have any time tae waste.” Jamie turned back to the donkey standing behind them. Despite their predicament, he looked almost bored, flicking his ears as the snow settled over him. “Come on, then. Let’s try the left first.” Taking up the lead rope, he tried to pull the donkey forward, but he dug his heels into the rough ground after the first few steps. “Hey, come on – hey!” Shaking his head, the donkey pulled the lead out of Jamie’s hands and turned away from him, ploughing his nose through the snowdrift in the opposite direction.

Victoria’s eyes grew wide. “How does he know where to go?” she whispered. “Can he tell that Alice is that way?”

“Oh, I doubt it,” the Doctor said, chuckling. “I rather think he’s taken this path so many times that he doesn’t need to be told where to go.”

The donkey had made his way further into the snowdrift, kicking up his legs to plough through it as though he was swimming. Behind him, the rough sled they had cobbled together and lashed to his harness was bumping along noisily, clattering over buried stones and fallen branches. Exchanging disbelieving looks, Jamie, Victoria, and the Doctor hurried after him, watching in fascination as he broke through the snowdrift and ambled up the mountainside.

“Look!” Victoria exclaimed after a few minutes, pointing to a ledge further up the mountain. Squinting up at it through the rapidly thickening snowfall, Jamie caught sight of rubble and ruined pillars, and his heart leapt in his chest. “That must be the old temple Alice said she was heading for! We’re almost there!”

Pushing past the donkey, the Doctor hurried up the slope. Jamie bit his lip as he watched him go, squeezing Victoria’s hand with a little more force than was necessary. She did not seem to mind, instead clutching at him with equal nervousness. They stood frozen in place, listening to the Doctor’s snow-muffled footsteps as he clambered up to the temple until his gleeful laugh split through the piercing whistle of the wind.

“She’s quite alright!” he called down to them. “In need of some warmth, but it seems we found her just in time. Come along, bring the sled.”

Exchanging a relieved grin with Victoria, Jamie began to guide the donkey along the path. “It’s gonnae be a bumpy ride down for her, Doctor,” he pointed out, kicking a stray stick aside. “Are ye sure she cannae walk?”

“Ah – you’d better come and see her,” the Doctor replied. “I doubt she’d be able to walk particularly far.”

He found the Doctor crouched over Alice’s alarmingly small figure, mopping at her brow with his handkerchief. She had managed to shelter herself from the worst of the snow and wind by huddling against a pile of rubble, but Jamie still marvelled that such a wee lassie had managed to last so long on the mountainside. She stirred weakly at the Doctor’s touch, mumbling something indistinct as they lifted her gently onto the sled.

“She’s lucky tae be alive,” Jamie murmured to the Doctor. He fumbled with the straps on the sled, watching Victoria fuss over Alice. “It’s going tae storm again tonight. If we had’ve found her much later...”

“We found her. Let’s focus on that, hm?” A smile was growing on the Doctor’s face, the worry falling from his shoulders now that they had found Alice. “Quite extraordinary, isn’t it? All that fuss, and in the end we just needed a stubborn donkey.”

* * *

Wandering across the farmyard, the Doctor peeked curiously into the buildings as he passed them. “Jamie?” His voice echoed across the empty yard, and he frowned, wondering whether Jamie could have gotten himself into any trouble in the few minutes since he had left him. “Jamie, where are you?”

“I’m over here.” Spinning around to search for the source of Jamie’s voice, the Doctor found himself facing a familiar barn, and scolded himself for not figuring out where Jamie had gone. Sure enough, when he pushed the door open, he found Jamie scratching behind the ears of one of the donkeys, smiling down at him with a careful tenderness he reserved purely for small children and animals. “He got us back safe, didn’t he?”

“Yes, yes, he did.” The Doctor held his hand out for the donkey to sniff, then surreptitiously wiped it on his trousers, grimacing at the grass stains that had already marred them. Those cows had been terribly interested in him. He supposed he should have known better than to keep sweets in his pockets around a farmyard. “He certainly knows his way around the mountain.”

“Aye, we couldnae have gotten Alice down from there without him.” Jamie ruffled the donkey’s mane fondly, laughing when he was met with a soft bray. “His name’s Jacob.”

“Jacob?” the Doctor echoed. He glanced at the donkey stalls curiously, his heart sinking in his chest. Each had a number neatly painted on the top, but no name attached.

“Aye. He’s a Jacob-ite, see?” Jamie grinned up at the Doctor, but his face fell when he saw his disapproving expression.

“We can’t take their donkey home with us, Jamie.”

“They’ve got lots of donkeys,” Jamie protested. “An’ the farmer only let us take him ‘cause he’s got a limp. Said he wasn’t any good an’ it didn’t matter if he died.” He stuck his bottom lip out a little, looking up at the Doctor pleadingly. “I cannae just _leave_ him here. I’ll take care of him, he won’t bother ye.”

The Doctor sighed, carefully avoiding looking at Jamie’s face. He found it difficult to resist that expression, and Jamie knew it well. “We can’t keep a donkey on board the TARDIS.”

“Why not? I spent most of my life sharin’ a house with animals.” Jamie folded his arms, staring back at the Doctor determinedly. “Anyway, there’s lots of room.”

“Well -” Despite his best efforts, the Doctor was starting to struggle with arguing against Jamie. “Well, I suppose there are some rather extensive gardens that could do with more use -”

“An’ Victoria would like havin’ him around, too.”

The Doctor’s resolve was crumbling quickly now. “Oh, alright,” he said at last. “But only if you’re the one who feeds him.”

“Thank ye!” Jamie hugged the Doctor tightly and kissed his cheek, then ruffled Jacob’s forelock again. “Do ye hear that, Jacob? You’re comin’ home with us.”

* * *

“Transistors, microcircuits, a new atomic welder… What am I missing?” The answer came in the form of a soft braying amongst the persistent cropping of grass. “Ah, quite right. Paperclips.”

“Didnae think I’d find ye here.” Ducking trough the paddock’s fence rails, Jamie set down the buckets he was carrying, brushing loose chaff from his shirt and kilt. Jacob’s head shot up at the sight of him, nostrils flaring eagerly, and the Doctor laughed as Jamie struggled to keep him away from the buckets. “Och, ye – at least let me mix it up a wee bit first, ye daftie.” He cast a long-suffering glance at the Doctor, shaking his head. “You’d think I hadnae fed him in weeks.”

“He’s getting fat,” the Doctor replied, lying down and splaying himself out on the grass. “Suits him.”

“An’ you’re gettin’ comfortable out here,” Jamie observed, flopping down beside him. “Suits ye.”

“Mm.” The Doctor stared up at the illusion of a sky thoughtfully. “You know, my people aren’t particularly keen on going outside.”

“Aren’t they?” Jamie sat up a little, his attention pulled into sharp focus at the mention of the Doctor’s people as quickly as Jacob’s had been by the arrival of food. The Doctor spoke of his past so little that to hear anything at all was a precious surprise. “Is that why the TARDIS has gardens like this, then?” He gestured above them. “So ye can pretend you’re outside when you’re really not?”

The Doctor snorted. “Even this is a step too far for most of them.”

“I wouldnae have guessed it, with how much those cows liked ye.” The Doctor pulled a face, making Jamie laugh. “Is it strange? Travellin’, an’ seeing all those places, if ye hadn’t been outside much before?”

“Oh, I’d always been something of a wild child.”

The matter-of-fact way in which he said it made Jamie laugh. “’Course ye were.” Scrunching up his face, he tried to imagine the Doctor as a child, made up neatly and forced into some fancy suit, but only succeeded in laughing harder. “I cannae really imagine ye as a wee bairn.”

“Yes, well, it was a long time ago.” The Doctor stretched out on the grass again, squeezing his eyes shut like a satisfied cat. “What about you?”

“Och, I don’t know.” Jamie shrugged. “Ran around on the moors, liked goin’ tae school to learn the pipes. Lay on the grass.” He grinned, tilting his head back to look at Jacob. “Shared the house with animals. Nothin’ special, I suppose.”

“Of course it’s special,” the Doctor said, nudging Jamie’s side by way of scolding him gently. “I’ve never had a life like that.”

“Well, ye can have a wee bit of it now,” Jamie pointed out.

“Mm.” Jacob had wandered over to snuffle at the Doctor’s hair, as if he thought it was a strange sort of grass, and the Doctor reached up to stroke his ears. “You know, it’s rather enjoyable, having an animal around.”

“Aye. But no cows,” Jamie said, grinning.

The Doctor grimaced. “No cows.”


	2. Maisie

“Oh! What a little darling.” The Doctor lifted a shapeless blob of green slime out of its pen, cradling it in his arms. It formed a long, sticky tendril and reached into his coat to pull out a sweet, and he laughed, bouncing it gently like a baby. “What do you think, Zoe?” Zoe wrinkled her nose, and he pulled a face, setting the blob back into its pen and continuing through the store. As he hurried to catch up with then, Jamie noticed that the blob was covered in a thin layer of black fuzz from the Doctor’s coat.

“What’re we doin’ here?” he hissed to the Doctor.

“It’s a pet shop, Jamie,” the Doctor replied, sounding as if he expected that simple fact to make everything clear.

“Why do ye want a pet?”

“I don’t,” the Doctor murmured. “Zoe does.”

Jamie stared at him. “Does she?” He frowned, trying to remember when Zoe had said she wanted a pet. “What dos she want that for? An’ why are we whispering?”

“She doesn’t know she wants it,” the Doctor said. “I thought – perhaps – having an animal to look after would help her to loosen up a little. Oh!” Trotting ahead to catch Zoe’s arm, he pulled her towards a cage filled with several puppies, all leaping up at the glass towards them. “Something more traditionally human, perhaps?”

Zoe huffed. “They’d drool all over my books, Doctor. I don’t see why we need to have a small animal in the TARDIS.”

“Oh, you know. It might brighten the place up a little.” The Doctor patted her arms, smiling down at her knowingly. “Besides, it’ll be educational for you.”

“I don’t see how -” The Doctor was skipping away again, leaving Zoe to cast an exasperated look at Jamie. “He gets such strange ideas into his head.”

“Aye, well, that’s the Doctor,” Jamie said, shrugging. “Sometimes it’s best just tae humour him.”

“But I don’t _want_ an animal in the TARDIS,” Zoe said crossly. “I didn’t even want to come here. I was running some fascinating calculations.”

Only then did Jamie notice the slight redness around her eyes. Even as he watched, she rubbed at her nose, looking irritated, and he fought back a laugh. “You’re allergic, aren’t ye?”

“Of course not,” Zoe snapped. “My immune system is just used to more _hygienic_ environments than this, that’s all.” She sniffed again, trying and failing to make it sound disdainful. “I don’t even remember _seeing_ a real animal before I started travelling with you two.”

“You’re allergic!” Drawing herself up to her full height, Zoe tried and failed to look down on Jamie as he struggled to control his laughter. “Och, I’m sorry. It’s just – it looks like your space station wasnae so good for ye after all.”

Zoe looked set to argue, but she was interrupted by the Doctor hurrying back towards them, holding out a fluffy black bundle. “She’s free,” he said, beaming. “She’s been here for weeks and nobody else has taken her, so they said I could take her even though we haven’t any money – ah. Here.” He shoved the creature towards Zoe’s chest until she took her from him, and Jamie peered over her shoulder curiously. On first glance, he would have said that the creature was a cat, but as he watched, a strange tentacle squelched out from her chest to tap at Zoe’s cheek, making her grimace in disgust. “Oh! She likes you.”

“But I don’t like her,” Zoe insisted.

The Doctor’s face fell. “You’ll hurt her feelings,” he protested weakly. “Just – just carry her out, hm? We’ll discuss things further when we’re back at the TARDIS.”

Zoe hoisted the creature up, holding her as far away from her chest as possible, but glowered at the Doctor’s back as he trotted out of the shop, looking pleased with himself. “She’ll ruin my notes,” she repeated.

The Doctor did not seem to hear her, instead starting to whistle cheerfully.

* * *

“There we are.” Stepping back from helping Zoe ease the creature onto the floor of the console room, the Doctor stood back, brushing his hands together. The creature started to slink around the room, sniffing cautiously at each of them in turn, then at the console’s central column. “Now, what are we going to name her?”

“How do ye know it’s a her?” Jamie put in.

“She doesn’t have any horns,” the Doctor said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. Jamie bent down to pat her, but was met only with a hiss and a swipe. “Oh! Oh, dear. It seems she doesn’t like you very much, Jamie.” The creature toddled over towards Zoe again, and the Doctor chuckled. “What are you going to name her, Zoe?”

“Name her?” Zoe repeated incredulously. “Why do I have to name her?”

“Well – well...” The Doctor blustered for a moment, frowning at her. “Well, because she’s for you.”

“For me?” Zoe laughed, nudging the creature away from her with her toe. “You’re the one who wanted to get her.”

“Yes, so you could have a pet!” The Doctor looked at her expectantly. “So, what’s her name?”

Zoe folded her arms. “She doesn’t need a name.”

“Oh, alright then. I’ll get you started. How about Maisie?” Zoe shrugged. “Maisie it is. Now...” He clasped his hands together, looking expectantly at her. “How about we try picking Maisie up?”

“If I try, will you let me leave to finish my calculations?” The Doctor sighed, but nodded reluctantly.

“Come on, Zoe,” Jamie put in. “It’s just a wee fluffy beastie.” He grinned. “You’re no’ afraid of getting a case of the sniffles, are ye?”

Zoe scowled. “Of course I’m not.” She bent down towards Maisie, but hesitated, suddenly looking a little nervous, and Jamie felt a flash of regret at having teased her. Zoe showed uncertainty so rarely that to see her looking frightened unsettled him a little. It was hardly her fault that her upbringing had been so sheltered, he reminded himself, even if she did sometimes seem to think it made her better than him. “What if she scratches me?”

“She won’t if you’re careful,” the Doctor said reassuringly. “Slowly now, hm? That’s the way.” He hovered his hands over Maisie’s back, watching carefully as Zoe lifted her up again. “There. How does that feel?”

Rocking Maisie back and forth experimentally, Zoe bit her lip. “Warm,” she said at last. “It’s odd, isn’t it? How contact with another mammal feels so...” She paused, casting around for the right word. “Nice.”

“Well, humans were never meant to be solitary animals,” the Doctor reminded her. “I suspect you’re simply connecting with something you haven’t experienced often.” He smiled smugly. “Didn’t I say it would be educational for you?”

The confidence was slowly returning to Zoe’s expression, and Jamie knew that she was ready for some careful ribbing. “How’s your sniffles?”

“Perfectly fine,” Zoe replied, meeting his smile with one of her own to let him know he was forgiven. She started to stroke Maisie’s fur apparently automatically, and was rewarded with a deep, rumbling sound. It was something like a purr, but had a strangely uncanny edge to it that Jamie could not put his finger on. Somehow, it reminded him of stepping over the threshold of the TARDIS, with the accompanying feeling that he was encountering something beyond the comprehension of any human. Once again, Maisie’s tentacles snaked out from where they were concealed by her stomach fluff with a wet, sloppy sound, this time to wrap around Zoe’s wrists.

“Oh, she _does_ like you,” the Doctor said proudly. “You know, Zoe, I think Maisie would rather appreciate it if you were to take her back to your room.” He chuckled, reaching up to ruffle first Maisie’s fur, then Zoe’s hair. “You never know, you might even find that she enjoys your calculations just as much as you do!”

* * *

Leaning in to listen at Zoe’s door, Jamie shook his head. “I cannae hear her typin’, Doctor. I think she’s fallen asleep.”

“Mm, I thought so. And with her light still on, too.”

“Should we get her tae her bed?”

“Yes. Yes, I think so.” Turning the handle as quietly as he could, the Doctor shouldered the door open and peeked inside, his expression turning to one of delight. “Oh, Jamie, look!”

Pushing himself up to look over the Doctor’s shoulder, Jamie peered into the room. Zoe was slumped over her desk, her fingers still curled around the edge of a book the size of her chest. Her cheek was pressed against her keyboard, and lines of random letters were steadily snaking their way across her screen. Glancing over his shoulder to smile knowingly up at Jamie, the Doctor gestured towards a mound of black fluff nestled beside Zoe’s head. Nudging him in return, Jamie pointed out a packet of allergy pills lying by Zoe’s outstretched hand.

“Looks like someone isn’t so frightened anymore,” he murmured, grinning.

“It certainly seems so. Do you think we ought to wake her?”

Jamie thought for a moment, watching Zoe as she slept. She seemed so uncharacteristically peaceful, for once not absorbed in calculations or fiddling with machinery, and he was loath to disturb her rest lest she return to her work instead of going back to sleep. But her position hardly looked comfortable, and she was bound to wake up sore in the morning. “Maybe we should just move her.”

“Yes, you’re probably right.”

Jamie stepped cautiously into the room, tiptoeing across the carpet in an effort not to wake Zoe. She stirred a little when he touched her shoulders, but he managed to lift her without her waking, carrying her over to her bed as slowly and smoothly as he could manage. Only when he laid her head against her pillow and tucked the blanket over her did she stir, reaching out for something that was not there. Jamie wondered if she was still searching for her book, even in her sleep, until she started murmuring quietly to herself. “Mm. Maisie?” Her eyes opened a crack, and she sat up a little, staring at him in confusion. “Jamie? Doctor? What are you doing in here?” She rubbed at her eyes, trying to wake herself up. “Is something wrong?”

“Not at all,” the Doctor said hastily. “We, ah, noticed that your light was on, and wondered if you were still awake, that’s all.”

“Oh.” Zoe made as if to sit up fully and swing her legs out of bed. “I was in the middle of something important -” Her gaze landed on her computer, its display marred by lines of nonsense, and she groaned, reaching up to touch the stark imprint of the keyboard on her face. “It’s probably ruined.” She pouted, seeming the spitting image of the Doctor for a moment. “That took me _hours_.” Her eyes travelled over to where Maisie was stretching, her own rest disturbed by Zoe’s removal. She leapt off the table and onto Zoe’s bed, purring and twitching her tail happily as she rubbed against Zoe’s side. To Jamie’s astonishment, Zoe laughed, burying her face in Maisie’s fur in return.

“It looks rather like someone wants you to stay in bed,” the Doctor said, chuckling. “I think you’d better stay, don’t you?”

“Oh, I suppose so.” Zoe hardly looked as if she minded, still running her hands over Maisie’s fur. “She’s appointed herself as my supervisor, you see.”

“It certainly seems so.” The Doctor looked immensely satisfied with himself, and Jamie had to bite his lip to stop himself from smiling. “Now, usually I’m in favour of bending the rules a little, but in this case I think your supervisor is quite right. Time for sleep.” He stifled a yawn. “For all of us, I think.”

“Oh, alright, then.” Zoe settled down beneath the covers again as the Doctor turned out the light. “Goodnight, Doctor.”

“Sweet dreams, Zoe.”


End file.
